Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention is an improved device and method for the control and elimination of termites and other insects, specifically using a pesticide in the form of a rope, which can be readily applied in areas where termites or other insects might frequent.
Termites exist in various forms: Nymphs and adults. The adult forms are workers, soldiers and reproductives. Nymphs will develop into the adult form that is needed by the colony.
Workers, which do the greatest damage to wood, are the colony members that provide food for the others. They also build and perform any needed maintenance on the colony. Workers also care for the nymph termites until they become old enough to forage themselves. Both the nymphs and workers create wood damage, with the majority of damage being caused by the workers. Soldiers function only to protect the colony. Reproductives, kings and queens, function to grow, extend and sustain the colony size.
Termites and other insects eat cellulosic material, of which woods are the prime source. Termites prefer fungus-infested wood. However, they will feed on any available wood even if it has not rotted or been damaged. In order to find food sources, termites tunnel through the soil. Most species of termites require a moist soil to survive. Areas where moisture collects near wood, such as woodpiles and old dead tree stumps are prime areas for feeding. Anywhere wood is in contact with soil, or where it is frequently wet, would be target areas that termites choose for food.
Some of the types of termites found in the United States are subterranean termites, Formosan termites and dry wood termites.
Subterranean species of termites live at depths up to about 20 feet below surface and will typically be dispersed throughout the soil around a building. Colonies may contain millions of termites.
Formosan termites can infest by air, and the only effective method of treatment is by poisoning the food source.
Dry wood termites need very little water to survive and do not need to remain in the soil to obtain moisture. The best methods of controlling dry wood termites are prevention of entry to the source areas and poisoning the food source itself, such as by treating wood with termiticide.
Termites digest the cellulose that they eat through the help of organisms, particularly bacteria, within their digestive system. Thus, by killing the organisms that aid digestion, the termite itself will die. Materials that are toxic to the digestive organisms include boric acid, borates and other materials. Foraging termites locate a food source, eat and return with food to feed the other termites and to inform other workers of the food source. Thus, killing a termite quickly is not usually desirable. It is better to allow them to return to the colony to communicate the location of the food source and to feed other termites with the slow-acting toxins that they have brought back in their digestive system.
Bait shyness occurs when termites locate a food source but early scouts die from it. If the food is satisfactory and a message is returned to the colony, many more termites will be attracted.
Termites are cannibals and thus will spread the toxin by eating the dead termites in the colony. In this fashion an entire colony can be decimated, if not eliminated.
Pesticides which are used to control termites include, but are not limited to, borate salts, such as disodium octaborate tetrahydrate and disodium tetraborate decahydrate, boric acid, borides, glycol borate mixtures, sulfluramid, and fipronil, as sold by Aventis Environmental Science USA, LP, Montvale, N.J.
In treating a structure for termites, the areas treated typically include roofs, roof trim, soffits, attics, floor, flooring, foundations, window frames, door frames, between wood joints, cavities in walls, voids between studs, eaves, sills and sill plates, floor joists, girders, sub-floors, block voids, interior and exterior sheathing, wood near plumbing and electrical entries (termites can enter a home through an opening as small as {fraction (1/32)} of an inch), carpet backing, basements, crawl spaces, garages, porches, decks, fences, pilings, piers, utility poles, other exterior areas such as steps, and garden landscaping items such as logs, posts and railroad ties. In sum, anywhere there is wood needs to be treated to prevent access and anything made of wood should be treated to avoid destruction.
Many other insects that eat wood exist. Often wholesale destruction of growing trees can take place. It is necessary to apply a pesticide material to the tree in order to kill these insects.
Various methods exist for control of termites and various pesticides exist to effect these methods. Application of liquids may be achieved by brushing, spraying, injecting, pouring, flowing through a tube, or such like. Powder may be applied by injecting, dusting or similar. Foams may be injected or sprayed into cavity areas. Liquids and powders lack containment and may contaminate the environment. Liquids, powders and foams all suffer from being difficult to remove.
The creation of a toxic barrier is desirable, but treatment of the potential food source area is also often needed. By providing a barrier, it may not be necessary to treat all potential wood areas within a home. This would apply in particular to subterranean (excluding Formosan) termites that are unable to bypass the barrier and must contact the barrier in order to get to the food source. However, prior art barriers are not continuous and have gaps in their coverage area.
Fumigation is also used to effectively eliminate termites. However, after the elimination, future control is needed.
Following are some specific prior art examples:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,798 to D""Orazio (1982) describes termite bait that utilizes brown rot fungus as an attractant and boron compounds in an amount to kill termites without creating bait shyness.
One method (U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,222 to Brody (1996)), which is thought to be the closest prior art, utilizes stakes that have been treated with a termiticide and then are driven into the ground at regularly spaced intervals. This method of application allows for gaps in coverage and in irregularly spaced intervals and requires the handling of many discrete components. Additionally, when it is desirable to remove the devices, they must be located and often will have degraded in composition, thus making removal difficult.
Another method (U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,474 to Peacock, deceased, et al. (1986)) utilizes installation of a tube in the ground area to be treated. Pesticide is then pumped into this tube and exits through holes in the tube into the ground. This method does not contain the pesticide, but rather causes it to be released into the environment.
A third method (U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,496 to Woodruff (1999); U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,266 to Woodruff (1999); U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,241 to Woodruff (2000)), also utilizing a tube, controls the bait and pesticide by inserting it into the original tube through a second tube. This also suffers from a lack of containment, allowing pesticide to be released into the environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,541 to Foster et al. (1992) describes a mesh that encloses an insecticide. This mesh is used as a protective barrier to prevent other larger non-target creatures from coming in contact with the toxin. This mesh only serves as a fixed barrier and does not aid in the removal of the bait.
These prior devices and methods either are rather involved and thus costly in manufacture and/or operation, or are unsuitable for ease of removal and replacement. In field application, choices are limited, most notably for preventative applications.
The present invention offers significant objects and advantages over the above prior art devices and methods.
Since the instant invention may be manufactured using rope-making equipment and thus can be made in continuous form, it has the benefit of low cost. Ropes are made from a number of strands helically laid around a central strand or core, or by twisting or braiding the strands. The strands that make up the rope, which are also formed by helical-laying, twisting or braiding, are made from a number of individual filaments or fibers. While the instant invention is preferably made by incorporating one or more strands that contain pesticide along with several strands which are cellulose-based, it would also be possible to weave an individual extruded, drawn or spun filament of a pesticide-containing matrix into the rope. In fact, the entire construction may be formed as a single filament, instead of as a rope, by a process such as extrusion. Extrusion would also allow, through coextrusion, the formation of a filament comprised of an inner core and an outer covering.
Because the present invention is a continuous article of manufacture, it may either be applied as such or cut onto suitable segments. When applied in continuous form, it can be applied by forming a trench, inserting the device into the trench and then covering over with soil. While many methods exist for doing this, this could well be accomplished by the apparatus detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,351 to Billings (1992), in which the rope might be fed in a manner similar to the installation of the seed tape.
Other types of termite control utilize stakes or bait stations driven vertically into the ground, or pesticide that is inserted into holes drilled in the ground. Since holes cannot be readily drilled horizontally, these methods are not useful in providing lateral barriers. While they could be readily inserted into trenches in the same fashion as the instant invention, their short lengths are not suitable to efficient installation. The instant invention thus serves essentially as a horizontal bait station. The instant invention thus overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
In being applied horizontally, the present invention can be used in multiple layers, which may be applied at different depths. In addition to the major advantage of being applied horizontally, the present invention can still be used in the conventional vertical application method, by cutting into strips and inserting vertically into holes in the ground.
The instant invention also readily conforms to the contour of the landscape, facilitating installation. It can be adjusted for climatic aspects, such as temperature and weather, for variations in terrain, and even for the type of termite or other insect, all by changing the make-up of the components of the rope.
While it is often necessary to eliminate an infestation of termites, it is much more desirable to prevent their damage in the first place. By incorporating the pesticide-rope into the construction of a building, very effective termite prevention may be accomplished. Small diameter ropes, made in the fashion of the instant invention, may be readily pressed into expansion joints or similar spaces in existing construction.
The instant invention can be used as a toxic barrier or to treat the food source area. It may also be utilized after fumigation to control future infestations.
Some insects that might be controlled or eliminated through the use of the instant invention are subterranean termites (reticultermes, heterotermes), Formosan termites (coptotermes), dampwood termites (zootermosis, neotermes), carpenter ants (camponotus), old house borers and long horn beetles (creamoycidae, hylotrupes).
Some materials are contact poisons; others may merely repel the termites or other insects. Either type may be incorporated into the device described and claimed herein. Binder, particularly cellulosic would be useful to contain the mixture for processing. An attractant, such as brown rot fungus might also be added.
It is desirable to control and reduce or eliminate the leaching of pesticide into the soil. Applications made in areas where moisture is not flowing will accomplish this. However, it is often necessary to place a barrier in an area where moisture penetrates.
By using the instant invention, the leaching is reduced because the pesticide is in the central core and is less likely to be contacted by free water. Incorporating other materials in the pesticide mix may also reduce leaching. These materials would be used to contain and in some cases partially encapsulate the pesticide, preventing leaching out.
A mesh may be used to cover the rope. This mesh would be most useful if it served a function to contain and allow removal of the rope for adjustment or at the end of the rope""s useful life. This invention provides that, using a mesh that tightens around the rope, thus constricting and containing the components inside. By also using a mesh material that is hydrophobic, excess moisture will be prevented from entering the rope and leaching out the pesticide material, while still allowing moisture vapor to enter and provide an adequate level of wetness to be attractive to termites. The mesh also serves to allow handling with a minimum of protective equipment, since there would not be direct contact with the toxic component. This would also be especially true of the construction in which the cellulose-containing strands surround the central pesticide-containing core.
Markings to indicate length may also be added to the rope to denote intervals for cutting, thus also serving the purpose of metering the pesticide in a given area, since a given length will correspond to a given dosage. Differing applications may require differing quantities of toxin and this may be accomplished in various fashions, including by increasing the diameter of the termiticide-containing rope. Inventorying of the material will also be facilitated, as pieces will have their dosage readily calculable from their length and diameter. Any instrument suitable for cutting may be used.
As discussed earlier, there are other insects that destroy wood, often killing growing trees. Treatment to eliminate these wood-eating insects may be accomplished by wrapping the trees with the rope construction of the instant invention.
By reviewing and considering the drawings and descriptions further objects and advantages of the instant invention will be apparent.
The present invention is a device for the elimination and control of termites and other insects, made from strands comprised of cellulose and pesticide-containing components, said termite bait and pesticide being woven into a rope and thus applied either as a continuous barrier or cut into sections to be placed where needed. It incorporates an identifier tag strip which may contain, among other things, the name of the toxin used, the manufacturing date and location, reference to the Material Safety Data Sheet safety categories, and so on.
Over the outside of the rope there is a hollow diamond braided covering mesh that is of an open weave allowing passage of termites. This type of weave has a property of constricting down to a narrower dimension when it is pulled, thus tightening over the rope. Thus, it will grasp the rope firmly for ease of removal. This mesh can also be made from a hydrophobic material to reduce or eliminate leaching of the toxin from the rope into the surrounding soil. Additionally, this mesh contains the pesticide rope and prevents it from falling into the surrounding area.